Turner, John W; 1905 Bio, Routt County, Colorado
http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/routt/bios/turnerjw.txt
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Donated April 2001
Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book:
Progressive Men of Western Colorado
Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill.
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John W. Turner
Born and reared in North Carolina, and approaching the dawn of his
manhood in the time of the Civil war, when the whole section of his
nativity was prostrate and wasted by the awful contest, John W. Turner
entered upon the stage of personal responsibility and activity under
very unfavorable auspices, and found the shadow of that destiny over
him for many years afterward. But although thus handicapped at the
beginning of his career, his native force has enabled him to triumph
over all difficulties and has carried him forward in a steady current
of progress, even though he has suffered reverses at times and has
found his way impeded by difficulties of weight and moment. His life
began along the picturesque Yadkin river in Yadkin county, of the Old
North state, on August 13, 1843, and owing to the circumstances of the
family and the state of the country around him his educational
advantages were few and meager. He remained at home until he reached
the age of twenty, losing his mother by death in 1853, when he was ten
years old, and his father in 1864, when he was just twenty-one. A few
months prior to that sad event he left the sunny South for the western
frontier, and in that land of promise and opportunity he has since had
his home. By the Platte route he freighted in and out of Denver, this
state, for one year, then turned his attention to farming and the
grocery trade in Arkansas, in which he was engaged in that state until
1878. In that year he went to Texas and became a factor in the great
cattle industry of that section, remaining until 1882, when he returned
to Arkansas and in the northwestern part of the state occupied himself
in raising apples with poor success for ten years. In 1892 he moved
to Jasper county, Missouri, and for six years thereafter was busily and
profitably engaged in the grocery business. In 1898 he sold this and
changed his residence to New Mexico, but not being pleased with the
outlook there, soon afterward came again to Colorado and locating at
Colorado Springs, passed a year and a half in freighting between that
city and Cripple Creek, and in helping to build the Short Line
Railroad. In the fall of 1899 he moved to Steamboat Springs, Routt
county, and opened a livery barn which he is still conducting, having
by studious effect and commendable enterprise equipped his stables with
every requirement for quick and satisfactory service to his patrons.
In 1902 he located a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres sixteen miles
northwest of Steamboat Springs, and to the improvement of this property
he has since given a due share of his time and energy. He now has one
hundred acres of the tract, which he took up as a homestead, under good
cultivation and yielding large annual crops of hay, grain and hardy
vegetables. The ranch is on Deep creek and is well watered. He has
made all the improvements on it and is steadily converting it into a
comfortable home for his declining years, should he choose to pass them
there. In political affairs he supports the Republican party, and
fraternally he has been connected for many years with the Masonic order
and the Odd Fellows. He was married on November 2, 1869, to Miss
Letitia Fort, a native of Arkansas, and they have had eight children,
six of whom are living, Elias W., Mrs. Ettie Obenchain, Mrs. James
Zering, William S., James A. and Ella G. Mr. Turner is the son of John
and Susan (Miller) Turner, natives of North Carolina who made Arkansas
their final earthly home. The father was a farmer by occupation, a
Republican in politics and an Odd Fellow in fraternal life. Both
parents were Methodists. They had six children, four of whom are
living.
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